LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Lt. Gov. Mark Darr on Friday concealed the names of 130,000 people licensed to carry concealed handguns in Arkansas, signing an exemption to the Freedom of Information Act while Gov. Mike Beebe was out of state.

The move immediately shielded the permit-holders' names and ZIP codes from disclosure. Beebe, a Democrat, previously said he would let the bill become law Monday without his signature, believing a 2009 compromise among legislators and the media that allowed limited disclosure was appropriate.

A spokesman for the governor said Beebe wouldn't object.

"The governor does not condone the signing and of course we always worry about setting a precedent even when it's within the allowed powers," Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said. "The governor also recognizes the unique set of circumstances with this bill and because of that we're not going to raise any objections."

Beebe was in Washington on Friday at the National Governors Association's winter meeting.

Arkansas' lieutenant governor's post is largely ceremonial and it is rare for an acting governor to take official action on such a grand scale. The last time was in 2003, when then-Lt. Gov. Win Rockefeller approved a special license plate honoring the Boy Scouts of America. In 1993, then-Senate President Jerry Jewell granted executive clemency to two convicts and also granted two pardons, leading to major reforms in how clemency requests are handled.

Darr, a Republican, told reporters he decided to sign the bill after talking with Sen. Bruce Holland, the bill's sponsor, and that his office notified Beebe's office of his intent.

"Having been an outspoken advocate for Second Amendment rights, I felt passionately that there should be no delays in signing this bill into law," Darr said in a statement issued by his office.

Arkansas law had already exempted all but the names and ZIP codes of concealed carry permit-holders from release. Beebe said that compromise was sufficient but that he wouldn't veto sealing the records because this year's bill had overwhelming support in both chambers. The Legislature needs only a simple majority in both chambers to override a veto.

Governors often demonstrate opposition to bills by letting them become law without their signatures.

Holland, R-Greenwood, proposed making the entire list secret in response to a New York newspaper's decision to publish the names and addresses of concealed carry permit holders following the December shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., that killed 20 children and 6 adults.

Darr said he doesn't plan to sign into law a bill approved this week that would ban most abortions 20 weeks into pregnancy. Beebe has said he has questions about whether the bill is constitutional but hasn't said whether he will veto it.

Rep. Andy Mayberry, the bill's sponsor, said he told Darr he didn't want him to sign the measure into law while Beebe was gone.

Darr didn't rule out signing any other bills if Beebe is out of the state.

"If he said it's something he's not going to sign and I believed in it and if I asked the member or they asked me to sign it, would I do so? Yes." Darr said.

In 1993, Jewell granted clemency to a convicted murderer and a prisoner serving 50 years for drug conviction, legislators mandated a 30-day comment period for prisons-related cases. Jewell held the office temporarily while then-Gov. Jim Guy Tucker attended Bill Clinton's inauguration and there was a vacancy in the lieutenant governor's office.